Orange Lower Boats Win but Weather Keeps No. 19 Varsity Eight from Competing at Nordic Nine

Story and Photos By Lauren Williams

Ithaca, N.Y.— Choppy waters cut short the No. 19 
Syracuse University Women’s Rowing spring


Three Syracuse rowers exit the Cornell Boathouse

opener at the Nordic Nine on Cayuga Lake this weekend. After capturing victories in the four races against UPenn, the Orange was ready to take on Boston University and the University of Iowa Saturday morning. But SU never got to race for a reason that makes the name of the competition fitting.

The Nordic Nine is an opportunity for the schools competing to gain race experience after facing similar training conditions, notably this year's long winter. Crews from SU, Boston University, Cornell, Yale, Buffalo, Penn, Northeastern, Iowa and Rhode Island were on hand and within this event, schools are competing for different cups, including the Orange Challenge Cup, the Cayuga Cup and the Kittle Cup.

“[Coaches] are trying to give [their] teams race quality race experiences,”  Syracuse head coach, Justin Moore, said. “You want to give them quality experiences against  similarly paced crews.”

Coaches planned the Nordic Nine as a daylong event on Saturday, but with the threat of snow and strong winds looming, they split it into two - Friday evening and Saturday morning.

Friday’s Success

 

The Orange Challenge Cup is one of the oldest cups in the history of women’s rowing. The first contest was in 1979, one year after the Syracuse women’s rowing program began.

“This is historic in that it’s basically been from the genesis of every program,”  Moore said.  “So we want to honor the history of this cup and continue to race it.”

The Orange captured victories in their four matchups against Northeastern and UPenn despite rough headwinds and debris in the water. The three schools were to contest the Orange Challenge Cup, but race officials deemed the conditions too dark and dangerous for anyone to be on the water so the First Varsity Eight never got to race.

 

In their first race of the race of the evening the third varsity eight boat clocked in at 6:42.1 almost 17 seconds ahead of Northeastern. Syracuse’s second varsity eight recorded the third best time of the evening. SU's time of 6:25.6 was right behind No. 6 Yale and Iowa.

"When I took over five years ago, we were being swept by Penn and Northeastern,” Moore said. “When we have a day where we win every event, I think that is something we at Syracuse want to continue to celebrate.”

Saturday's Deteriorating Weather

 

Conditions on Saturday morning worsened.Instead of facing headwinds between 1-7mph,crews saw almost twice that. Winds variedbetween 8-13mph and teams needed to maneuveraround debris that fell onto the course the nightbefore.  Racing began at 7:30 a.m. and by 9 a.m.race officials called off the remaining races including all those SU was to be in.

“You’re always concerned about athletes’ safety in early April in the northeast,” Moore said. “Probably the number one concern is hypothermia.”

The high speed of the wind creates rougher waves that splash rowers as their oars enter the water. As the water soaks the athletes, the blowing wind makes it difficult for the rowers to maintain their core body temperature, making them susceptible hypothermia.

The loss of this competition takes away the nine teams’ opportunity to get some racing under their belt before the bulk of the season kicks off. Many rowing teams have large rosters that make traveling by plane costly. Unlike schools in the south, winter makes it difficult for teams in the northeast to get out and onto the water. It also creates a racing environment that they would not get in practice. They have the ability to race different schools, from different conferences and they see the racing styles of rowers other than their teammates.

“It was just a late season,” Syracuse assistant coach Jim Lister, said. “Winter lasted really long. It [was] really important to fit this in because the season ends up being really short when your ACC Championship is in May.”

Next Up 

The Orange women hit the water again on Saturday, April 18, in Clemson, South Carolina for the Clemson Invite.